Diamond in the Ruff (Pedigree)

by Jodi Kendrick

  Mrs. Karak sprang. "Darcy, tell us about your latest pet project with the Academy."

  Corra's eyes swept the faces around the table. Katz looked sad, while everyone else adopted varying masks of disinterest, boredom, or vague curiosity. Mr. Karak frowned at his wife's lack of tact with their son but remained silent.

  "It's a career choice, Mother. And it's going very well."

  Hard gold-green eyes lasered Corra in place. "Isn't that where you met?"

  "Oh, yes!" Katz interjected. "Darcy saved Corra's life."

  Corra smiled at Katz's enthusiasm and her obvious attempt to ease the brittle tension that suddenly made the room suffocating. "Something like that," she said.

  "What an exciting way to fall into a relationship. I've always believed a partnership should have a solid foundation, like common values and commitment."

  "And a profitable contract," Bennett said.

  Mrs. Karak's eyes narrowed on her eldest son. "Your arrangement has proved to be very good for both of you. Your father put a lot of effort into finding a good match for you. And, yes, marriage should be practical too."

  "Ever the romantic, Mom." Emma dropped the comment with a roll of her eyes.

  "Your father and I love each other," Mrs. Karak said, leaning back in her chair.

  "Couldn't imagine my life with any other lioness," Mr. Karak said with a genuine smile at his wife.

  "I understand you have quite the ambitious family yourself, Corra."

  The sudden shift in topic nearly gave Corra whiplash. After a moment, she smiled sweetly, picked up her after dinner teacup, and said, "I wouldn't know. I grew up in foster homes after my mother died when I was very young." Heart hammering, she sipped her tea in the silence of the company, eight pairs of startled eyes on her after the blunt admission.

  Mrs. Karak had found out something about her family. Darcy said she would. And after their first brief meeting, she'd been prepared for it to be used as leverage in some way. She swallowed the desperation to know what that something was and instead coated her tongue with the honey in her tea.

  She smiled again, challenging with, "What kind of ambitious are they?"

  Mrs. Karak waved a hand in dismissal. "We can discuss that later, dear. The topic is clearly a private one."

  "Oh no, please, I'd love to hear what you know of them."

  "Would anyone like some dessert?" Mrs. Karak asked.

  The faces around the table shifted to expressions of pity before being shuffled behind masks of politeness.

  Ah well, it was worth a try.

  Darcy gave her hand a squeeze, his gaze intent on her face. "We can go."

  "No way, dessert is my favorite food group."

  A waiter stepped forward with a tray of choices.

  "Oh, that tower of decadence for sure. I'm feeling reckless." She winked at Darcy.

  He chuckled as she handed him a fork, sharing the piece of dessert with him.

  "So, Darcy," his mother began again, "tell us about—"

  "My career choice at the Academy? Exactly that. I'm sure you all know I'm enrolled as a cadet at the FUC Academy. And, yes, it's going very well. In fact, I've nearly finished my training and expect to begin placement in a couple of months."

  "Another year and then you'll be ready to join us in the office."

  "I'm sure Bennett can handle the board. And Emma, when it's her turn to step into the role you have lined up for her."

  Emma smiled. "Almost finished my marketing degree."

  "Wentworth is in accounting," Katz added for Corra's benefit. "Willoughby is in real estate acquisitions, and I'm in HR."

  "Looks like everyone knows exactly where they belong," Corra commented.

  "Yeah, except Darcy's determined to leave me hanging in the wind," Bennett said.

  "Bro, you got this."

  "Still." Mrs. Karak sniffed. "You belong at his side, not adventuring and playing cops and robbers."

  "It's hardly playing, Mrs. Karak. Lives are on the line," Corra said.

  Darcy's thumb stroked over her hand on the edge of the table.

  Mrs. Karak's eyes narrowed over the rim of her teacup, sliding from Corra to Darcy. She set her cup on the stark table linen, her attention focused on her son. Reaching for her bag at her feet, she withdrew a folder and let it drop on the large glass carousel in the center of the table next to the teapot.

  Everyone's eyes riveted on the folder.

  A crisp printed label with the only word "Terry" jumped from the face of the black plastic surface.

  "It didn't work last time, Darcy. I know you'll eventually see reason," she said.

  There wasn't a sound.

  "What's this?" Darcy asked her.

  Corra was sure Darcy knew exactly what it was. The report she'd been hoping for. The reason she'd agreed to this weekend with Darcy. She also understood that the cost was to walk away from Darcy.

  All of this staging was for his siblings' sake. Like they were the jury on Darcy's future.

  They weren't a real couple. She was there to project the illusion that Darcy had a solid relationship and was, therefore, a hitch in their plans for a contract marriage that would be linked to his expected duties in the family business.

  Their case was weak.

  She could take that folder and walk away. Let him deal with his family himself. There could be something important between the covers of that report folder that she could share with Caleb.

  Would Caleb want to know? At the cost of ditching his best friend to the maw of his mother's jaws?

  "A choice," Corra said, turning to look into Darcy's eyes. His expression was unreadable as he looked back at her.

  "You belong with your family, Darcy. Mindy was content to walk away with a few grand. How about Ms. Terry? A few sheets of paper?"

  Darcy's head whipped in his mother's direction, his face blanched.

  Katz gasped.

  Several of Darcy's siblings also stared at their mother in shock.

  "Family is everything," Mrs. Karak said.

  Corra's family was on the table.

  She stood, and she could feel the collective intake of breath as she folded her napkin and dropped it onto the table. Turning to Darcy, she looked down into his face, placed a hand on his cheek, and brushed her lips over his with a whispered, "I'll be in our room packing."

  To the Karak family, she said, "Thank you for the dinner, and it was lovely meeting all of you."

  She walked out of the room, head held high.

  15

  "Family is everything."

  Darcy stared at his mother, her voice ringing in his head.

  Next to him, Corra stood.

  He expected her to take the folder and run. It was what she was here for.

  Instead, she'd turned to him with a kiss and a sweet whisper.

  The folder remained untouched on the table between him and his mother.

  No one said a word; everyone was watching Corra walk out of his mother's negotiation.

  Katz smiled.

  No one dared look at their mother. No one ever walked out on her.

  Darcy stood, drawing his mother's gaze from the door Corra had closed behind her, back to his face.

  He drew in a deep breath to settle the riot of emotion that tornadoed through him in that moment.

  "You're right. Family is everything."

  She blinked at his words, her face turning nearly the color of her merlot.

  He didn't stay to find out what she would say. In that moment he really didn't care.

  Corra was still in the hall, waiting for the elevator.

  "You okay?" she asked him.

  He nodded. "Yeah." He blew out a breath. "Yeah, I am."

  "Short and curlies."

  His laughter exploded, bouncing off the marble walls of the foyer. "Not anymore!"

  She smiled up into his face.

  She was so incredibly beautiful.

  Everything she wanted was right there on the table, and she'd walked away
from it.

  The elevator door opened, and they stepped inside.

  "Why didn't you take it?" he asked her as they ascended.

  She frowned at him. "I don't abandon my friends. Not for any price."

  He swallowed hard, feeling like he'd been sucker-punched.

  Friends. Yes. Yes, they were friends.

  And as he looked at her, something within him whispered that he wanted to be more than Corra's friend—if she wanted more too. He found himself hoping that she did.

  He took her hand and kissed her knuckles as he stared into her eyes. "Thank you."

  Her cheeks flushed. The scent of her sudden nervousness filled the tiny space.

  "I don't know if we've achieved anything with your parents."

  The elevators swished open, and she skipped out.

  He watched her quick movements around the suite as she gathered up her things to pack for their flight in the morning.

  Time to go back to their lives.

  He still didn't know if his mother would lay off and let him go. He'd made his decision very clear to his entire family. Maybe they wouldn't be so determined to pull him back in after seeing how uncommitted he was to the family cause.

  He hoped so.

  He felt a pang at the thought of the tethers between himself and his various family members fraying.

  Releasing the buttons at his wrists, he rolled the cuffs up as he stepped out onto the balcony. His gaze slid across the ocean horizon, reminding him of their race along the beach the previous night and the way she'd kissed him at the club before that.

  He pivoted his attention back to Corra's path around the room for a final check of her belongings, jeans and T-shirt in hand before going to change, and he wondered.

  He swallowed, suddenly feeling unsure of himself—an alien sensation.

  She stepped through the patio doors, looking under the lounge chairs for anything she might have dropped. As she moved closer to him, he reached out and gently caught her arm, pulling her against him. Startled and curious, she didn't resist.

  "Friends?"

  Confused, her brow wrinkled. "Yes, of course."

  "What if that isn't enough for me?"

  Her mouth dropped into a small O then quickly snapped shut, her expression turning suspicious.

  "How do you mean?" she asked cautiously.

  "Well, we seem to like kissing each other well enough. That's a little more than friendship."

  She nodded, looking at the bared skin of his forearms. "Maybe that chocolate cake has gone to my head, and I'm still feeling a little reckless, but I'd say I like kissing you a lot." She looked up into his face. "A lot." Her voice turned to a soft rasp.

  "Agreed." Resisting the urge to do just that, he pushed a little more. "And when we go back to the Academy?"

  "What are you asking me, Darcy? I'm not used to you hedging."

  "You and me."

  "Yeah?" She smiled, the corner of her mouth quirking, and he felt himself blush like a schoolboy. "Darcy, are you asking me to go steady?"

  He could hear the suppressed laughter in her voice. "Maybe I am. Will you wear my class ring when I get one? I'm feeling kinda old-timey in this classy vest you bought me and with you in that elegant dress…" His hands itched to slide the straps off her smooth shoulders.

  "I like old-timey." Her soft fingers slid along the exposed skin of his wrists and up his arms.

  He smiled, studying the light freckles across the bridge of her nose and cheekbones.

  "Not bad. Over the weekend I've gone from fake fiancée to going steady." She smiled.

  He laughed, releasing her, reaching for the knot of his tie.

  "Here," she said, pushing his hands aside. A moment later, the silk noose slid free of his throat and slithered along the underside of his shirt collar. He looked down to see her attention focused on his throat. Tie looped over her hand, her fingers twitched toward the top button of his shirt.

  Darcy was entranced, watching the intent focus as her tongue swiped her bottom lip, sending shocks through his gut down to his dick. The cooler air slid along the base of his throat as her hands swept along his chest. When she turned her gaze back up to his, the raw hunger in her face hit him like a truck.

  16

  Corra's heart pounded in her chest. Her eyes swept Darcy's bare throat, and her mouth watered, desperate to lick the soft flesh shielding his pulse. She inhaled the sudden scent of his desire, reacting to hers.

  His long, lean body was bent over her as he looked down into her upturned face.

  "How long do we have?"

  "All night."

  "Does decadent cake make you reckless too?"

  "I'm always reckless."

  "Okay." Her hand, still encased in his tie, slid up around his neck, pulling his face down to meet hers.

  Her mouth opened, tongue sweeping his lips, and he crushed her against him, hip to hip, his desire hard against her heated apex. She groaned, unable to get close enough. Weeks and weeks of chained-up lust threatened to overwhelm her domesticated brain, devolving her into a wild animal.

  He'd gone and rolled up his sleeves, and his throat was exposed to her.

  He was so damned hot.

  And she was finally admitting to herself just how wild she was for him. A goddamned cat. A tomcat, no less.

  Was he really? No. Maybe? She didn't give a damn right then.

  A doubt crept into her consciousness. An image of that folder on the table. A gauntlet his mother had thrown down.

  What if there was something in there that would make him change his mind about her?

  His kiss deepened, and her knee crept up his thigh. Thoughts crumbled.

  There was only sensation.

  Air swirled between them as he stepped away before swinging her up into his arms and carrying her to the nearest of the lounge chairs that dominated the private outdoor space.

  The black sky above was a suspended backdrop of sparkling stardust and planets that glittered like diamonds.

  The sound of the surf was faint compared to her pulse swishing through her ears as he approached her again. The intensity of his gaze took away what was left of her breath.

  "Shoop," she whispered.

  "Huh?"

  "Nothing." She sat up and moved to her knees on the cushion, reaching for him, pulling him closer. Her sensitive nose was inundated with all the smells swirling in the air around them, mingling with their own scents. She inhaled deeply, tasting his cologne and personal musk on her tongue, leaning forward to claim his mouth again.

  She shouldn't want him so much. Her instinct overrode her head.

  Cats and dogs weren't supposed to mix.

  He deepened the kiss, leaning over her, gently pushing her back onto the lounger, moving with her until he rested on knees and elbows, ebony curls dangling around the edges of his face.

  Her eyes met his as she broke the kiss, her fingertips sliding through the silky curls.

  His eyes closed to slits as his mouth gained a mischievous curl at the corner. His lips roamed down her cheek along the sensitive spot of her pulse point and down her throat. Down farther to her chest, nimble fingers slid beneath her to access the zipper of her dress. Seconds later, her strapless bra sprang, freeing her breasts. As his hands went farther down her body, her silky dress and underclothes seemed to slide free along with them until she lay exposed, the fabric a puddle on the floor.

  Kneeling up, Darcy surveyed his handiwork as he unbuttoned his vest and shirt, baring the smooth, lean contours of his upper body. A dusting of dark hair covered his chest, disappearing below the waistband of his pants, which quickly followed the fate of her dress and his shirt on the floor.

  He stood before her, proud and full of desire. She sighed when he returned to his place above her, and after an eternity of licks, nibbles, and roaming fingertips, she pulled him to her, leaving no doubt about what she wanted next.

  With a grin, he backed away and kissed her inner thigh, fingers trailing up the
other to her core. She gasped as his fingers moved into and around her, then moaned when his lips and tongue delved intimately. Corra bit her lip, struggling not to give in. Darcy won and drank deeply of her.

  He prowled back up the length of her body, self-satisfied. His slitted eyes twinkled at her as he licked his lips and grinned. "Better than honeyed milk."

  Reaching for him, her hands slid down his abs to fondle and stroke his rigid heat.

  Gentle exploration gave way to hard passion once he slid into her; his hips, moving in deliberate rotation, elicited gasps and groans from deep in her throat.

  He flipped both of them over so that she looked down on him.

  She rode him, grinding, his hands on her breasts. Sliding and slamming until her orgasm rolled up on her like the crashing waves beyond the privacy of their balcony.

  Later, after an eternity of lying silent in the aftermath of their first lovemaking, Darcy rose from the lounge chair, taking Corra with him. He carried her inside to the comfort of the king-sized bed where they could better explore each other's bodies in comfort for the rest of the night.

  Showered and dressed, Darcy retrieved their overnight bags. Corra smiled at him with an expression that mirrored his own languid satisfaction.

  Taking her bag from his grasp, she slung it over her shoulder. "Shall we?"

  He nodded.

  In the lobby, Darcy checked them out of their room and turned to find Corra encircled by his siblings close to the parking elevators.

  His hackles rose instinctively. Seeing the ease of Corra's posture and the sound of her laughter echo through the lobby, he relaxed and approached his family.

  "You weren't going to leave without a word, were you?" Emma said, leaning in to kiss Darcy's cheek.

  "Early mornings at the Academy," he hedged.

  Wentworth and Willoughby hugged him and wished him well.

  Bennett hung back, unsmiling and stiff. Darcy approached his elder brother and gave him an easy smile. After a long moment, Bennett smiled back, reaching out a hand.